there's a lot about the bush administration that angers me. as a man, as a father, as an american, as a... y'know, human being. the moral bankruptcy, the imperial foreign policy, the shredding of the odd-numbers on the bill of rights, the incompetence and cronyism-- these are, somehow, subjective points, and surely some could be argued at least to a standstill (out of frustration if nothing else).

but now, this:

At Monticello-- !!!-- on the 4th of July, Bush said:

Thomas Jefferson understood that these rights do not belong to Americans alone. They belong to all mankind. And he looked to the day when all people could secure them. On the 50th anniversary of America's independence, Thomas Jefferson passed away. But before leaving this world, he explained that the principles of the Declaration of Independence were universal. In one of the final letters of his life, he wrote, "May it be to the world, what I believe it will be -- to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all -- the Signal of arousing men to burst the chains, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government."

Problem is? That's not the quote. See if you can notice the edit:

May it be to the world, what I believe it will be, (to some parts sooner, to others later, but finally to all,) the signal of arousing men to burst the chains under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves, and to assume the blessings and security of self-government.

That's right: he cut out under which monkish ignorance and superstition had persuaded them to bind themselves. On not just the anniversary of the Declaration itself, but on the anniversary of the great man's death. AT THE MAN'S HOME.

It's amazing, but somehow-- on top of all the other levels I've already been offended on-- with this egregiously sad and patently dishonest edit not just of content but of intention, bush and his hacks have actually managed to offend me as a writer.